The Spoon and the Ring
by knowhere
Summary: Literati. It wasn’t the cuddling. She loved that. It was the spooning. AU.


**The Spoon and the Ring**

Author: Knowhere

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Nothing.

**AN:** This suddenly came to me as I was lying in bed. I like the way it turned out. Hot and sweet.

It's pretty adult. There are some things that I mention that I don't think I've alluded to before in my other R stories. Just be forewarned.

Enjoy!

And please review when you're done.

Summary: Literati. It wasn't the cuddling, she loved that; it was the spooning. AU.

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She didn't like to spoon. It wasn't that she hated it; it simply wasn't her preferred method of cuddling. She preferred to lie face to face, fall asleep with legs tangled, knees brushing, with arms wrapped around each other's backs. She knew, without a doubt, that women all around the globe with non-spooning boyfriends, husbands, and significant others were probably cursing her and calling her all kinds of stupid for wanting to tell her boyfriend that she rather him not pull her back to his chest and hold her close.

It had been at least three months after they first slept together when she summoned the bravery to bring the topic up to him. That night, when they finished making love and their bodies still covered in a light sheen of sweat, he tucked her close to his chest and heaved a satisfied sigh. Their bodies were plastered from front to back, one of his arms tight around her waist, settling on the dip of her hip while the other was curved above her head. She ran her big toe up and down the length of his shinbone and worried her bottom lip with her teeth for a good fifteen minutes before she brought it up.

"Jess?"

He hummed into her neck and practically purred. That was something she found out about Jess when they progressed from simple kisses to heavy petting and ultimately to sex. Jess Mariano purred. To liken it to a cat would do him injustice, but there simply wasn't another word for it. He purred. A deep rumbling sound in his chest, a sound of pure masculine pleasure. "What is it?"

"Could we…could we not do this?"

He lifted his head in an attempt to catch her expression from behind. "Do what?"

She turned around and lifted uneasy eyes. "Spoon."

His brow wrinkled. "What?"

"I just…would rather not spoon."

He just stared as if he heard the words coming out of her mouth but couldn't comprehend them. "Why?" Even though it probably wasn't the most masculine thing to say, Jess knew without a doubt that the cuddling inevitably brought on at the conclusion of sex was his favorite thing. He just relished in the thought and feel of knowing he had satisfied his woman and that he held her safe in his arms after giving her a piece of not only his physical body, but his heart. He loved how it felt every time to know that his arms were tight around her body and that she was sharing the warmth of his body.

While the more sentimental part of him liked the symbolism that spooning entailed, the more basic animal part of him just reveled in the feel of having her curvy bottom tuck right up against his erection. It was a fantastic way to fall asleep and wake up to. Especially since his body was on a perpetual timer and they both knew without a doubt that if they were still in the spooning position when they woke up, his morning wood would make a definite and strong appearance when it was cradled in the warmth of her bottom. Jess loved that feeling above all else. It ranked right up next to the feeling of the wet heat of her mouth around him. Not that he would say it aloud to her. She'd probably call him a pig and refuse to sleep with him for a month.

She tried to choose her words carefully, knowing that it was a delicate conversation they were about to have. "I don't really like it when we spoon." Damn, those were the wrong words.

His eyes suddenly reflected the hurt that he felt. He was silent for a few minutes, thinking about the implication behind her words. The only reason he could come up with is the fact that they usually had sex in the mornings, sometimes making her rush through her morning routine, but never really making her significantly late. "Is it 'cause we have sex in the mornings?"

She rushed to explain herself. "No! No, I love that. You know I do."

"Do I? I've held you like that for the last three months at least, and now you tell me that you don't like my arms around you?"

"I never said I don't like your arms around me. I said I don't like spooning."

He scowled and pulled back a little, tucking the sheets around his body while placing space between them. "What's the difference?"

She reached behind her and flicked on the bedside lamp, bathing their room in soft lighting. "There's a difference, Jess. I like your arms around me. I love it. I like cuddling. I just don't like spooning."

"Why?"

"Because I can't touch you when we do."

He sat up, pulling the sheets with him. "Your entire body is touching me when we spoon."

"Not the front." She huffed out an irritated sigh and counted to ten mentally to compose her emotions. "I like touching you. You get to touch me with your hands when we're spooning, but the only part I can really reach is just your arms." She scooted closer to him and placed her warm hand against his chest. His muscles contracted at the touch. "I wanna fall asleep and touch you. Do you understand? I love the cuddling. I love that _you_ love it. I just wanna have the chance to reciprocate." She put on her puppy dog look. "You can understand that, don't you?"

He grunted but ultimately softened. How could a guy be angry with his girlfriend when all she requested was to be able to touch him more? "So what do you want? Sleep facing one another?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yes."

He looked oddly worried about the logistics but nodded nonetheless. "Okay." He slid down and waited for her to turn off the light before holding his arms out awkwardly to her. "So…how do we do this?"

She giggled. "It's not rocket science, Jess. I just…" She scurried over to meet him in the middle of the bed and snuggled into his body. She wrapped one of her arms around his torso and placed it on his back. The other hand lay flat, not quite spanning the entirety of his pectoral. Her breath whispered beneath his chin and she could feel the silky trail of hair from his belly button down tickling her own bare stomach. She bent her knees slightly and tucked one between his legs. Sighing, she felt contented. "You okay with this?"

He watched and waited while she situated herself into him and found that it really wasn't all that bad. In fact, it may have its possibilities. From his angle, he wasn't tucked up against her bottom, but he now pressed into her stomach. With a smirk, he realized that there would be no mistaking his erection when it poked her stomach. He chuckled.

"What?" Her question tickled his throat.

"I think this position just might be a good idea."

She smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." He rolled his hips and felt him brush the entrance of her body. Wiggling down slightly, he reached down and notched one of her bent knees over the curve of her hip and slid partly into her. "Hm…yes, possibilities indeed."

"Jeez, again? What are you? The Energizer Bunny?"

He laughed and retreated from her body. Catching her lips, he licked repeatedly at her bottom lip, tasting his own kisses on her lips. The ones that he left previously. Coaxing her mouth open, he reached down the length of her body and shifted his fingers into her heat. At her moan, he slid them in and out mimicking the thrusts of his tongue and the movement that he was silently promising her would come later. "Wanna go again?"

She tightened the bent leg that was draped over his hips and laughed low in her throat. "Jerk. You know I can't say no."

He smirked and bent to capture one tight nipple in his mouth while his free hand toyed with its mate, teasing the hardened tip with both tongue and hand. "I'll stop right now if you want me to."

"You do and you die." She grunted at the feel of his retreat and reached down boldly to grasp him herself and guide him into her body. Rocking in shallow thrusts, she squeezed her leg over his hip while steadily clenching her muscles.

He let go of her breast with a wet pop and ground his back teeth together at the feel of her tightening around him. "Jesus, Rory." She bent down and licked a wet trail along his collarbone, feeling his groan as her own. "Oh god baby, do that again."

She complied with a smile. There were very few circumstances in which Jess used an endearment. One of them was during particularly good sex. "That good huh?"

His hand grasped her knee tightly as he tried to leverage himself for a more forceful thrust. "Yeah. Fuck baby, that feels good." A couple more controlled thrusts in and he felt like the top of his head was about to blow. His body took over, finesse erased as a harder pounding took over. He let go and just felt her body. He gripped the headboard to alter the angle slightly.

She buried her face into the crook of his neck. That sudden change in angle hit her just right. She was close. So close. "Not yet, Jess. Hold on…almost."

He moved his hand into the mass of soft brown hair and cupped her face lovingly into his warmth while his body took them higher. "Come on baby. Come on." Unable to control herself, she sank her teeth into his shoulder, stifling her cry. At the feel of her teeth, with that sharp burst of brief pain, he exploded and held on as the tremors racked his body. He clutched her tightly to him, feeling her own contractions and swiftly rolled her onto her back to thrust hard into her on his wide braced knees. As he shuddered through the last bit of his orgasm, his arms gave out and he slowly lowered his weight onto her.

She tried to swallow, her mouth suddenly dry. "Wow."

"I'll say." He chuckled dryly. "Damn, Ror, we'll sleep like this every night now. You should've mentioned it earlier if it meant sex that rendered me cripple."

She laughed at his weird humor. "Love you."

He braced his weight on his elbows and tenderly brushed her hair off of her face. Nuzzling her nose with his, he kissed her warmly. "Hm…love you too."

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Half a year later and they still began their sleep like they did that first night, face to face. One of her legs would always end up tucked between his with their arms wrapped around each other. Most nights they would separate during the night, especially if one of them ended up wanting to sleep on their backs, but the times that they stayed together until they awoke guaranteed morning sex. It was just something Jess refused to turn down when he woke up hard and so close to the woman he loved.

Rolling over, he brought her halfway on top of his chest. "Damn, it's still as good as the first time."

She played with his chest, drawing shapes and letters in no particular order. "Yep, still good." As she closed her eyes, she heard him rummage around the nightstand, probably for his watch to see the time. She smiled as she felt him lift their joined hands and kiss her fingertips. But when she felt something heavy and cold slide onto her fourth finger, her eyes popped open. Her mouth worked wordlessly for a few moments.

He looked down at her expectantly. "What do you think? You ready to marry me?"

Her throat felt thick as tears gathered. "I take it you're ready."

"I'm ready to try to make you happy, yes."

"You already do."

Sliding the ring past her knuckle, he kissed her palm and ran his hand down her bare back. "Then you better wear this."

She didn't know what to say except, "thank you."

He smiled, closed his eyes, and settled their bodies under the warm covers, her hand nestled in his, fingers intertwined. "My pleasure."

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**AN:** Read? Please review.


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